"Obvious" is the most dangerous word in mathematics. E. T. Bell
"The Charge", this month's Recommended Reading, has advice for activating a "charge" to get more "life" in one's life. The recent New York Times opinion piece "Is Algebra Necessary?" has inspired many comments -- read it and let us know what you think.As a guest writer for the Central New Jersey College Prep Math newsletter, Robin's article "Math is an Opportunity to Focus on Improvement" talks about how learning is more important than grades.
Recommended Reading
The 10 drives in this book that can improve the quality of your life are the desire for more control, competence, congruence, caring, connection, change, challenge, creative expression, contribution and consciousness. The three exercises at the end of each chapter are designed to help you be your best and get to the next level across the Wheel of Life such as Family, Finance and Contribution.
Author Brendon Burchard shares his personal stories on how he overcame obstacles including a bout with depression, a car accident and the recent passing of his Dad. Check out Brendon's video:
The New York Times featured Is Algebra Necessary? on the front of the Sunday Review on July 29th which inspired 475 comments.
Do you think Algebra is necessary? Please send your comments to Robin.
Math Confidence's response focused on the Math that students need for college placement tests so they can bypass non-credit remedial courses and take credit-bearing classes.
Central Jersey College Prep is a 6 -12 charter school that prides itself on its high graduation and college acceptance rates. As the guest editor of CJCP's Math department newsletter (a thank you shout out to Sheila Simsek for the invite!), this article was written with parents in mind and includes the benefits of studying Math. Many times, well-intentioned parents worry that their son's or daughter's grades in Math are too low or too variable, but this is common when peak performance and level of challenge of different topics is factored into the success equation.
A group of four people has to cross a bridge at night. A flashlight is needed to light the path and they only have one flashlight. No more than two people can cross the bridge simultaneously, and it takes different time for the people in the group to cross the bridge: Abby crosses the bridge in 1 minute, Bob crosses the bridge in 2 minutes, Cathycrosses the bridge in 5 minutes, David crosses the bridge in 10 minutes. How can the group cross the bridge in 17 minutes?
